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By Sue Chang and Chris Matthews, MarketWatch

The U.S. central bank to hold its second interest-rate policy meeting of the year

U.S. stocks advanced Tuesday, with bulls looking to extend the Dow Jones Industrial Average's winning streak to five sessions, as Federal Reserve policy makers convene a two-day policy meeting.

How are the benchmarks faring?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 149 points, or 0.6%, to 26,063, while the S&P 500 index added 16 points, or 0.6%, to 2,849. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 50 points, or 0.7%, to 7,765.

What's driving the market?

While no change in rates is expected, investors will be focused on the Fed's policy statement, remarks by Chairman Jerome Powell at his news conference, and policy makers' forecasts of future rate moves. Of particular interest is whether the Fed will announce plans to bring its balance-sheet runoff effort to an early end.

See:Fed seen revealing 'how and when' it will stop shedding balance sheet assets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-seen-revealing-how-and-when-it-will-stop-shedding-balance-sheet-assets-2019-03-18)

Also read:Here are 3 things to watch when the Fed unveils its latest dot plot (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-doesnt-want-anyone-paying-attention-to-the-dot-plot-but-here-are-3-things-investors-wont-want-to-miss-2019-03-15)

Investors on Monday mostly shrugged off news reports (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-point-to-mixed-start-ahead-of-fed-meeting-boeing-drags-on-dow-2019-03-18) that a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to formally end a U.S.-China trade dispute is unlikely to occur until June. A meeting had previously been indicated for as early as this month.

See:Bulls looking for repeat of 2016 stock-market rally will be disappointed: Morgan Stanley (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-bulls-hoping-for-a-repeat-of-2016-rebound-will-be-disappointed-morgan-stanley-2019-03-18)

New orders for American-made goods rose 0.1% in January, the Commerce Department reported. The growth was below the 0.4% increase in factory orders expected by economists polled by MarketWatch, and matches the 0.1% increase in December.

What are analysts saying?

"It's been a fairly stable trading environment, as the market has largely built in expectations that we'll get some kind of deal with China and it isn't anticipating any changes to interest-rate policy from the Fed," Patrick Healy, president of Caliber Financial Partners, told MarketWatch.

"The Federal Reserve begin their two day meeting today, and some dealers are anticipating a neutral update from the U.S. central bank," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a note. "In recent months, the Fed have rowed back on their hawkish rhetoric and have moved more towards a middle-of-the-road position, and an absence of hawkish language is likely to lift investment sentiment."

What stocks are in focus?

Shares of Michaels Cos. (MIK) jumped 14%, after the arts-and-crafts retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/michaels-cos-stock-soars-4-premarket-as-quarterly-earnings-beat-offsets-soft-guidance-2019-03-19) that surpassed Wall Street expectations, though the company disappointed in its 2019 outlook.

DSW Inc. (DSW) shares sank 13% after the discount footwear retailer reported fiscal 2018 earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dsw-stock-plunges-after-full-year-adjusted-profit-misses-expectations-2019-03-19) that fell short of analysts' forecasts.

Shares of Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) rose 3.9% after the company announced that Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) would now be using its T4 data-center chips (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nvidia-bags-amazon-web-services-in-its-latest-data-center-chip-push-2019-03-18).

Revlon Inc. (REV) shares slid 4.8% after the cosmetics maker reported unaudited fourth-quarter and 2018 earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/revlon-stock-tanks-after-beauty-company-finds-material-weakness-in-its-controls-misses-views-2019-03-18), saying it spotted a "material weakness" in its internal controls over financial reporting for 2018. The company said it would file its 2018 Form 10-K no later than March 29, while saying that financial results aren't expected to change.

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) rose 2.9% after Raymond James analyst James Freeman raised his target price (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chesapeake-energys-stock-surges-after-bullish-analyst-call-crude-oil-rally-2019-03-19) on the stock from $4 to $4.50.

How are other markets trading?

Asian stocks were muted (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-muted-awaiting-upcoming-fed-meeting-2019-03-18), with Japan's Nikkei 225 edging 0.1% lower, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index adding 0.2%.

In Europe, stocks rose with the Stoxx Europe 600 adding 0.6%.

Crude oil turned weak (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-extend-climb-to-multimonth-highs-as-opec-supply-appears-in-check-2019-03-19) while the price of gold rose and the U.S. dollar lost ground (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slides-for-seventh-out-of-eight-sessions-ahead-of-fed-update-2019-03-19) versus major rivals.

--William Watts contributed to this report

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2019 12:36 ET (16:36 GMT)

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